Santtu Teerihalme is a 37-year-old bike-enthusiast and industrial design student from Helsinki, Finland. While not spending his time with his family, Santtu is building a bike to Build-A-Pelago-framebuilding contest. We asked few questions about life and Santtu blessed us with the answers you can see below. So here it is, a short but important interview about Mr Teerihalme – enjoy.

When did you start building frames and why?
I have always been around bikes. I have built and taken apart bikes since my childhood. My first frame from scratch was a fixed gear frame in 2007. Those days track frames were not yet so popular, and building my own felt like a good idea.

What excites you right now?
At the moment I’m interested in cargo and family bikes. My latest builds are all sort of cargo bikes, I have done one with 20″ wheels, one Linahammar-style and even one for the kids.

Biggest dream as a builder?
I would love to have my own model in production.

Biggest nightmare as a builder?
I think some sort of failure causing an accident in my build would be really hard to handle.

Your proudest moment?
I’m always happy if I can deliver. The best thing lately was the cargo bike for kids. Just thinking the smiles on youngsters on their first ride makes me feel good.

What distinguishes you from other builders?
I think quite many builders are following their own paths, mine has been closely attached to everyday commuting and family. During the last maybe five years I have been working on family related bikes. I think a small part of me is engineer, I like to test and develop, sometimes strange and crazy, solutions for bikes.

Where will you be in five years?
Last fall I started studying Industrial Design, where I can combine my passion for developing and designing products and solutions. In five years I will find my path as an industrial designer in the bicycle world. Some cool stuff will follow. 

Thanks for the interview Santtu!

Check more about Santtu from his Instagram account here.

#buildapelago